A RETURN TO POSITIVITY, BUT NOT TO MORE OF THE SAME
This has been a year in which economies across the region have moved back into positive territory. And, in climbing out of recession, they have taken consumer confidence up at the same time.
David Roth
CEO, The Store WPP, EMEA & Asia
[email protected]
Twitter: @davidrothlondon
Blog: www.davidroth.com
| But this does not signal a return tobusiness as usual. In fact, it signals thestart of a new era, in which much of whatwe previously thought of as normal haschanged. Normal consumer behavior,normal communications strategies forreaching them, and normal ways to getgoods and services to market. All arebeing redefined.
This is a recovery that is inconsistentacross the region and is being felt bydifferent consumer groups to varyingdegrees. This variation is reflected inour BrandZ™ brand valuation rankings,which show overall growth in theBrandZ™ Top 50 Most Valuable LatinAmerican Brands 2018 of 18 percent.Look behind this strong, top-line figure,though, and there are brands that haveincreased their brand value by as muchas 99 percent in the past 12 months,while others have suffered a 33 percentdecline, and there are brands at everypoint in between.
Average brand value growth among thetop Brazilian and Chilean brands hasbeen over 20 percent, while Mexicanbrand value growth is up just 4 percent,and the leading Argentinian brandshave grown in value by 45 percent. Thisvolatility is indicative of the new normal.
Even within categories, there aresignificant inconsistencies; while someretail brands, communications providersand financial institutions have madegreat strides, for example, others inthose categories have seen significantlosses in brand value over the sameperiod.
In this report, we strive to make senseof the current state of play for brands,drawing on nearly a century of WPPcompany expertise in LatAm, workingwith some of most valuable and iconicbrands in the region. Our network oftalented and experienced colleagueshave an intimate knowledge of thecountries in which they work, and adeep understanding of what motivatesthe changing consumer.
We couple this market knowledge withmore than a decade of BrandZ™ globalbrand valuation research, which hastracked over 100,000 brands in morethan 50 markets to identify the keydrivers – local, regional and global – oflong-term growth in brand value.
In the pages ahead, we analyze theunique demands and opportunities forbrand builders in each of our featuredmarkets. While each market has uniqueconditions, challenges and culturalnuances, there are some commonthemes to the new normality in whichbrands now must operate. And it islargely the extent to which individualbrands have grasped these themes thathas influenced how they have fared inthe past year.
Go to brandz.com to learn more. |